


King and Lionheart

by Morie_mordant



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean Shiro (Voltron), Fairy Tale Elements, Gen, Human Allura (Voltron), Human Lance (Voltron), Lance/Pidge if you squint, Lone wolf lance, Prince Shiro, Swap!AU, brain allura, keith still part galra, loverboy hunk, sunshine pidge, survivor keith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2019-01-21 23:20:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12468232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morie_mordant/pseuds/Morie_mordant
Summary: "And as the world comes to an endI'll be here to hold your hand'Cause you're my king and I'm your lionheart."





	King and Lionheart

**Author's Note:**

> The work is based on Swap!AU: http://iacediai.tumblr.com/post/166611155493/total-rolebodysoulwhatever-swap-or-just-au 
> 
>  
> 
> I did not want to make them the same characters with a different face and name, so I have tried to make a mix of the two. Also their relationships do not mirror the relationships between people with the same roles in the canon (ie au! Lance and Keith do not have the same relationship as og! Keith and Shiro, although they are lone wolf and survivor). And some elements like Keith being galra are still here. So it's a diabolical cocktail.
> 
> It may end up as a multichapter, I'm not sure.
> 
> HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KEITH!!!!
> 
> The name and the summary are from the song King and Lionheart, Of Monsters and Men

Mother had told him fairytales. That was his first – one of the few – memories of her. The dry dust of the desert on the shelves, the flashes of purple and the murmur of a lullaby about royal palaces, monsters, knights and princesses. Keith had never gotten to become the knight, although he had been given a medal to put on his chest and the title of the best pilot for people to awe when he walked past. Yet all of those were taken away when he was captured. He was stripped of everything, his pride, his name, even the knife, which was his mother’s only gift. There were merely fairytales and floaty images of the past left.

In fairytales palaces always resembled hives, life pulsing, things humming, as people were hurrying around in preparations. Either for a feast, or for a war.

The first thing that struck them, as they crossed the threshold of the castle, was the all-consuming, deafening silence. The end of the corridor was drowning in the dark, and the lion’s roar was still a distant echo, slowly setting in the ears. Pidge let out a nervous hiccup and shifted from one foot to another, and the heel of her boot clattered loudly against the slabs.

“So what now?” Lance was frowning, his arms crossed over his chest.  
“You tell us. After all, it was you who brought us here.” Allura remarked with a raised eyebrow, but then immediately got distracted by something on the wall.  
“Not me, but the giant Blue Lion,” he snapped.  
“We’re here for a reason,” Keith intervened, “I can feel it.”

As in response to the sound of his voice, the ledges on the walls and the ceiling blinked with delicate blue and illuminated the magnificent – empty – hall.

It was so grand and spacious that his desert shack would easily fit in here. Maybe a whole Garrison hangar too. Impatient to take off and look around, Hunk could hardly subdue himself until Keith pulled himself out of the enchanted stupor and carefully moved forward, giving them all permission to follow.  
He felt like he was gravitating to something, like it showed him which turn to take.

His stomach dropped, leaving a hollow feeling inside, and he was giddy, trying to swallow the lump in his throat; Keith did not understand what that was, but one thing was clear. It was something that did not let him be satisfied with the sky and urged him to strive higher, higher still, to the stars and beyond. Something that forced him to survive in the Arena. That did not allow him to give up.  
At last he was here, and the castle acknowledged him, lighting the way, guiding him somewhere. After such a long time, he felt ready to believe again. Pidge clung to the sleeve of his jacket, and he managed to smile at her, hoping it came across as reassuring.

“Why we didn’t leave anyone to stay on the lookout? I could’ve!” she suggested nonchalantly, tiptoeing.  
“And to be left alone with a strange robot on some weird planet at the entrance to the haunted castle?”

Somehow they lowered their voices to whisper, so as not to disturb the slumber of the enormous beast. They all could agree that the castle was definitely alive – it was breathing, watching them, waiting for them.

They were prepared for a majestic rich treasury or a dungeon with piles of bones and the stink of old rotten flesh; the throne room or even the round table – but they were met with a simple room with a podium in the middle. Allura jumped to examine it, claiming it to be some sort of dashboard, however, even so, the surface remained perfectly smooth, no buttons, no swipes, no levers. Hunk groaned in disappointment.

“Well, here we are.”

Keith awaited.

The following moment, several things happened. With a hiss, a capsule rose from the floor and its surface dissipated into the air, revealing a man inside. As Pidge leaned in, quietly inquiring if it was a corpse, the man gasped and tumbled out. Without a second thought, Lance grabbed Pidge, covering her with his body. Allura leaped into the corner, and Hunk ducked to catch the stranger.

“Don’t worry, you’re in good hands now,” he winked at him, helping him to his feet.

Hearing that, the stranger sidestepped and gracefully – not a hint of recent seeming weakness – went around his ‘rescuer’ and twisted his arm behind his back, forcing a surprised yelp out of Hunk. Then he said something, tense and demanding, but for them it was a mess of unfamiliar sounds and noises. He had a deep, booming voice, of a man who was used to giving out orders. Lance obviously caught on the tone of the phrase too, and his lips quivered, baring his teeth, as he pushed Pidge even further behind his back, while she tried to look out, unable to overcome her curiosity. The alien frowned at the sight, and Keith took a step forward, attracting his attention, raised his hands in the air. At least as he understood, this gesture should transcend the language barrier and hold a universal meaning.

“We came in peace,” he promised.

This one was unlike any aliens, whom he had met before. He was tall – the tallest in the room – but much shorter than the Galra, and would easily pass for a human, had it not been for his ears, pointed tips of which were peeking from behind two longer strands of his bangs.

The alien narrowed his eyes, but then jerked his chin, pointing at the podium. Still holding Hunk, whose face reflected the whole spectrum of indignation with such betrayal, he slowly got closer, advancing lithely and gingerly, in a feline manner, never taking his eyes off Keith.

Keith met his gaze.

There were red markings burning on high cheekbones of the alien, and the storm clouds were rolling in his eyes. The second his palm touched the white surface of the podium, the room exploded with colors. Lance tried to catch Allura, but she bypassed him, staring with an opened mouth at the translucent space incredibility, a multitude of galaxies scattered around.

The alien’s face slightly softened. He started talking again, but this time gently, and a mechanical female voice answered him.

Then he spoke in English.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?”  
“We could ask you the same question!” all his muscles grew numb, and Hunk fidgeted frantically. “All we know, a giant blue robot-lion got us here.”

Unsatisfied with such a response, the alien dragged Hunk’s arm higher, forcing him to bend to the floor.

“Why do you have the Blue Lion? Where is her paladin? How much time has passed?”

Keith took another step toward him.

“Look, we have no idea what you’re talking about. Could you tell us everything from the beginning? We might be able to help”.

His grip weakened, enough for Hunk to break free and rush away, rubbing his limbs.

“Call me Shiro”, he turned to the dashboard to read some pop-ups, “everyone does. Did.”

A bitter snicker broke from his lips, and they all involuntarily held their breath.

“I have slept for ten thousand years.”

Pidge whimpered, burying her face in Lance’s shoulder.

“I am the prince of Altea.”

This knowledge was not any kind of revelation. His robe, embroidered with golden threads, a face of broad, handsome features of nobility, framed with long raven hair – it was a picture from children’s book.

“But Altea exists no more. My planet and my people were eradicated.”

Shiro’s stormy grey eyes were bright with lightning, his beautiful face pained, lost, furious – his knuckles white, as he squeezed the edge of the podium; and no one knew what to say at such a time. Were such times even possible?  
‘Don’t worry, everything will be okay’?

Nothing was okay. And might never be.

Before he could change his mind, Keith closed the distance between them and put his human hand on Shiro’s shoulder.

“I’m truly sorry,” he said quietly.

Shiro nodded. He delicately pulled away and turned his head to the ceiling, throwing his hair off his face. And from the top descended lambent lions. In addition to the blue, which they had seen already, there were four more: the yellow, green, red and black. Lions circled them, clicking their tails, and no one could glance away from this carousel of rainbows.

“The Blue Lion has brought you here, which means the time has come. Voltron has chosen the new paladins.”

In the end, Keith did not actually see all that beauty. The whole time he was looking the other way.

*

On a planet far far away, in a deserted castle, a prince slept under a spell. He slept for ten thousand years, and around the castle mountains ascended and perished, the seas laded in and dried up, the countries were built and reduced to rubble. Many people were searching for the prince: those loyal servants that had avoided the demise, friends and enemies, the evil king and his witch… However, the prince could be awakened only by a knight with a lion heart.


End file.
